Stephen Kinzer: The Brothers - Rise of Exceptionalism and Aspirations of Empire

“Exceptionalism”—the view that the United States has a right to impose its will because it knows more, sees farther, and lives on a higher moral plane than other nations—was to them not a platitude, but the organizing principle of daily life and global politics...

With a glance, a nod, and a few words, without consulting anyone other than the President, the brothers could mobilize the full power of the United States anywhere in the world."

Stephen Kinzer, The Brothers: John Foster Dulles, Allen Dulles, and Their Secret World War